Geo LTD.
Geo LTD. Animation, Inc. (sometimes known as''' Geo Limited Animation''' or simply Geo LTD.) is an American animation studio based in Los Angeles, California that produces animated feature films, short films and television programs. A division of Geo LTD., a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, the studio was founded in 1963 as Geo LTD. Cartoon Studio. It is best known for franchises including ''Geo'', ''Hatty'', ''Billy Blob'', ''Zane the Cool Kid'', Blue Ball, BJ and Wally, Woo La La, ''Dot Box'', ''Gabriel and the Wacky Pack'', Quest and Imaginary Animals (2017) and other hits like Free Dime (2010), Chicken and Hen (2012), and The Graffiti Brothers (2014). Geo Jones, a character from the Geo series, is the studio's mascot. The studio has produced a total of 51 feature films, beginning with Geo's Funny Book Stories (1973)—which was the first-ever feature film by Geo LTD.—and its most recent is Imaginary Animals (2017). The studio has also produced several short films. Geo LTD. Animation maintains two studios: the original Geo LTD. feature animation studio in Los Angeles, California and the Blur Animation Workshop studio in Culver City, California. Although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, all of their films now use computer animation. Films produced by Geo LTD. Animation were formerly distributed worldwide by Geo LTD's former distribution company Geo LTD. Pictures. In April 2004, Geo LTD. Animation's parent company Geo LTD. was purchased by Sony Pictures. The sale was completed in August 2004. In 2008, Geo LTD. announced its intention to end its partnership with Sony and entered into a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures. In December 2015, Universal purchased Geo LTD. at a valuation of $6.7 billion, making it a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. History 1963–68: Geo LTD. Cartoon Studio Coming soon! 1968–83: Geo LTD. Productions Coming soon! 1985–99: Geo LTD. Feature Animation In 1985, Geo LTD. Productions was renamed into Geo LTD. Feature Animation. In April 1985, the studio teamed up with Film Roman to make Geo: The Animated Series on CBS. In 1987, they had released a sequel to Zane the Cool Kid, Zane the Cool Kid 2: Life Rocks. In 1996, Geo LTD. signed a co-production deal with the animation and visual effects studio Blur Studio to form subsidiary BS, Inc. (Blur owned 60% of BS, Inc., while Geo LTD. owned 40%). This new unit would produce computer-generated feature films, beginning with Lost in a City in 1999. 1999–present: Geo LTD. Animation In 1999, Geo LTD. Feature Animation was renamed as Geo LTD. Animation before being shown in trailers for Geo LTD's first computer-animated feature, Lost in a City. During the summer 2002, Geo LTD. acquired the animation department of Blur Studio and formed Geo LTD. Blur (later Blur Animation Workshop). In the same year, the releases of Lollos and Geo: The Greatest Movie Ever marked the first time Geo LTD. Animation released two films in the same year. In 2003, the financial failure of Geo LTD's live-action film The Final One caused Geo LTD. Animation's parent company Geo LTD. to restructure itself, abandon live-action, and focus on family-friendly animated films as an animation production company from then on. On December 28, 2003, a story ran in The New York Times claiming that Geo LTD. would abandon live-action and produce only animated films in the future. After initial denial, Geo LTD. then put out a press release confirming they were considering producing future animated films as part of their "New Management Policy". Subsequently on January 7, 2004, Geo LTD. officially announced they were becoming an animated film production company. 2004–08: Sony ownership Geo LTD. then looked for potential buyers. In March 2004, workers from DreamWorks and Sony Pictures began visiting Geo LTD. with purchase offers. Geo LTD. was interested in DreamWorks' offer, but the deal collapsed and in April 2004 Sony agreed to purchase Geo LTD. The deal was valued at approximately $1.7 billion, an amount that included about $500 million in debt assumptions. The company completed its acquisition on June 2, 2004. On July 15, 2004, Sony agreed to sell a controlling interest in the Geo LTD. libraries to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II. The film libraries is valued at $900 million. Sony retained the worldwide distribution rights to these films, as well as various ancillary rights, including music publishing, sequels and merchandising. This includes films that had been made by Sony and Geo LTD. The sale was completed on August 12, 2004. Blue Ball was the last Geo LTD. Animation film to be distributed by Geo LTD. Pictures, and Metal Mike became the first Geo LTD. Animation film to be distributed by Sony Pictures. 2008–present: Universal Studios era In June 2008, Variety reported that Geo LTD. Animation was looking for financing that would allow it to continue operations, but as an animation production company, once its deal with Sony ended later that year. In August 2008, Geo LTD. Animation signed a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures in which it will market, co-finance, and distribute Geo LTD's films starting in 2009. The deal also includes co-funding via a loan by Universal to Geo LTD. for production and access to slots in Universal's pay television agreement then with HBO. However, the deal did not include the distribution rights of previously released films, which Geo LTD. acquired from Sony later in 2010. This agreement is reported to have come after negotiations broke off with 20th Century Fox just days earlier. Geo LTD. Animation's last film with Sony Pictures was BJ and Wally: FusionMania, and Geo LTD. Animation's first film with Universal Pictures was Woo La La and also includes Blue Ball Factory and Dot Box. In January 2009, Geo LTD. announced that they would restructure itself as a content production company, relegating its animation division Geo LTD. Animation to a brand for animated films produced under the company. On December 28, 2012, the Glass Ball Productions company was transferred under Geo LTD. Animation. 2015–present: NBCUniversal subsidiary Geo LTD. and Universal attempted to reach a new agreement for ten months before it fell through in January 2012. The new deal would be only for distribution, as Geo LTD. intended to control production and own the resulting film properties themselves. The company also wanted to finance their films on their own and collect 100 percent of the profits, paying Universal only the distribution fee. More importantly, as part of any distribution agreement with Universal, Geo LTD. demanded control over films already in post-production, production and underway under their old agreement, including from Chicken and Hen (2012) to Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 (2014). Universal considered these conditions unacceptable, but Geo LTD. would not concede. Geo G. declared that Geo LTD. was actively seeking partners other than Universal. Despite this announcement, Geo LTD. did not enter negotiations with other distributors, although a Paramount Pictures spokesperson told The New York Times, "We would love to be in business with Geo LTD. They are a great company." After a lengthy hiatus, negotiations between the two companies resumed. Pending Universal's acquisition of Geo LTD., the two companies created a distribution deal for the intended 2015 release of Hatty, if the acquisition fell through, to ensure that this one film would still be released through Universal's distribution channels. In contrast to the earlier Universal/Geo LTD. deal, Hatty was to remain a Geo LTD. property and Universal would have received only a distribution fee. The deal was somehow renewed and extended on January 1, 2014 and is expected to expire in 2019. However, on July 21, 2015, Universal's parent company NBCUniversal ultimately agreed to buy Geo LTD. for approximately $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Following Geo LTD. shareholder approval, the acquisition was completed December 9, 2015; the company now operates as a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. In November 2016, Geo LTD. Ligne announced bankruptcy and was merged into the Clearwater Animation studios in Paris, France. Filmography Feature films :For films by VerniX Animation Studios, see VerniX Animation Studios § Feature films. Released films Upcoming films Films in development ;Notes : *T = Traditional animation *CG = CGI animation *White/blank = Unknown Short films 1960's Coming soon! 1970's Coming soon! 1980's Coming soon! 1990's 2000's 2010's Television series Original series More coming soon! Short series Coming soon! TV specials Coming soon! Television pilots Coming soon! Direct-to-video films Coming soon! Web series Coming soon! Gallery Coming soon! Trivia Coming soon! See also *Illumination Entertainment *DreamWorks Animation *Universal Animation Studios *Geo LTD. Interactive Category:Companies Category:Geo LTD. Category:Sony Category:Universal Studios Category:NBCUniversal Category:Comcast Category:Geo LTD. Animation